Police Killer Roberts to be Released

Police Killer Roberts to be Released

Britain’s most notorious police killer Harry Roberts is due to be released after spending more than 45 years in jail, reports said on Thursday.

The 78-year-old was imprisoned for life for murdering three unarmed officers in Shepherd’s Bush, London in 1966.

Detective Sergeant Christopher Head, 30, Detective Constable David Wombwell, 25, and PC Geoffrey Fox, 41, died on August 12, 1966 after Roberts and one of his two companions opened fire following an armed robbery.

The plain-clothed officers were shot dead as they pulled over a van carrying Roberts and the two men near Wormwood Scrubs prison in west London.

The judge labelled it as “the most heinous crime for a generation or more” and Roberts was given a minimum 30-year prison sentence. The expectation was that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

He is expected to leave Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire within days after the parole board approved the release.

But the reported decision has sparked anger from police officers.

Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “I am appalled to learn that police killer Harry Roberts is being released from prison. Let’s not forget, this menace murdered three unarmed police officers in cold blood and it is abhorrent news.

A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spokesman said it did not comment on individual cases.

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